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ESSAY 


ON  THE 


Influence  of  the  War  of  1812 


IN  THE 

C0W^0LIDi\Ti0pI  OF  TpE  UJfllOW. 


W.  T.  LA  WS  O N, 

Class  of  ’82, 


COLUMBIA  COLLEGE,  NEW  YORK. 


I 


ESSAY 


5 o 


o 


Very  few  of  the  present  generation  have  any  just  conception 
of  the  great  changes  which  were  wrought  in  the  nature  and 
political  character  of  the  United  States  by  the  War  of  1812.  In 
fact,  the  history  of  that  conflict,  which  made  the  American 
people  a nation,  is  almost  forgotten  in  the  splendor  of  the 
more  imposing  events  which,  in  peace  and  in  war,  have  since 
then  illustrated  the  progress  of  the  republic  to  imperial  great- 
ness. Those  who  have  been  dazzled  by  the  victories  of  the 
Mexican  War  and  the  great  deeds  of  Grant  and  Lee  and 
of  Sherman  and  Stonewall  Jackson  can  hardly  discover  the 
misty  forms  of  the  captains  who  seventy  years  ago  led  the 
American  armies  to  victory  after  victory  over  the  British  and 
their  savage  allies;  and  Perry,  and  Hull,  and  Decatur,  and  Law- 
rence are  forgotteu  in  the  achievements  of  Farragut.  Yet  it 
was  the  War  of  1812  which  made  possible  the  conquests  of 
Taylor  and  Scott,  and  gave  to  the  Government  that  strength 
which  upheld  and  preserved  the  Union  and  made  Grant  Presi- 
dent of  an  unbroken,  republic.  Though  the  War  of  1812  was 
inconclusive  in  that  the  treaty  of  peace  which  terminated 
it  did  not  formally  establish  the  principles  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  which  it  had  been  waged  by  the  United  States  : and 
though,  to  the  superficial  observer,  it  may  seem  to  have  been 
unhappily  begun  and  ingloriously  ended,  it  was,  in  fact, 
a most  fortunate  event,  for  it  converted  a Confederation  of 
thirteen  discordant  States  into  a Union  which  is  now  the  ob- 
ject of.  reverence  and  affection,  and  laid  broad  and  deep  the 
foundations  of  its  prosperity  and  grandeur. 


4 


In  simple  truth,  the  Union  which  we  know — that  thorough 
and  complete  Union  of  all  the  States  which  to-day  has  almost 
effaced  State  lines  and  made  the  United  States  one  great  com- 
monwealth, one  republic,  one  nation — hardly  existed  except  in 
theory  and  in  the  semblance  of  a government  on  the  18th 
of  June,  1812,  when  war  was  declared  against  Great  Britain. 

To  ascertain  the  truth  of  this  statement  there  is  need  only 
to  glance  at  the  history  of  the  Union,  and  the  condition  of  the 
country  from  the  end  of  the  Revolutionary  War  to  the  begin- 
ning of  Madison’s  administration  in  1809 — a period  seemingly 
uneventful,  and  but  little  known  and  understood  to-day. 

When,  having  done  this,  we  shall  compare  the  Union  of  that 
day  with  that  which  existed  in  1846,  when  the  war  with 
Mexico  was  begun,  we  can  discern  the  great  and  beneficent  or- 
ganic changes  which  were  wrought  in  the  Union  by_the  War  of 
1812,  and  also  the  unifying,  consolidating,  and  nationalizing 
forces  which  were  set  in  motion  by  that  war,  forces  which  have 
been  constantly  operating  since  then  with  increasing  vitality 
andjmergy.  It  is  to  these  forces,  indeed,  that  we  owe  the  war 
with  Mexico,  the  immense  acquisition  of  territory  resulting 
from  that  war  ; above  all,  we  discover  in  them  that  strength 
and  power  of  the  National  Government,  and  that  devotion 
of  the  people  to  the  Union,  which  together  triumphed  over 
secession  and  made*  us  what  we  are — a homogeneous  and 
united  people — 

“Distinct  as  the  waves;  but  one  as  the  sea.” 

Clearly  recognizing  the  changes  which  were  wrought  in  the 
political  structure  of  the  Union  by  the  War  of  1812,  we  shall  try 
to  ascertain  how  these  changes  were  brought  about  and  how 
the  war  produced  them. 

The  treaty  of  peace  by  which  Great  Britain  acknowledged 
its  rebellious  colonies  to  be  free,  sovereign,  and  independent 
was  signed  on  the  3d  of  September,  1783.  During  the  war 
the  colonies  had  been  held  together  under  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  and  by  common  dangers  and  necessities. 


5 


When,  however,  war — the  vivifying  and  solidifying  influence 
which  gave  strength  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation — ceased, 
the  colonies  began  to  fall  apart,  and  men  could  no  longer  say 
in  the  patriotic  words  of  Patrick  Henry,  “The  distinctions 
“ between  Virginians,  Pennsylvanians,  New  Yorkers,  and  New 
“ Englanders  are  no  more.  I am  not  a Virginian  ; I am  an 
‘ •'  American.  ” 

Those  distinctions  not  fenlv  existed,  but  they  became  broader 
and  deeper  every  day,  as  the  differences  in  the  character,  and 
pursuits,  and  interests  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  colonies 
became  more  pronounced  and  antagonistic.  The  Congress— 
which  was  the  Government,  the  only  external  symbol  of  the 
Union  of  the  States,  and  the  only  depository  of  the  powers  con* 
ferred  upon  the  General  Government  by  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation—was  fast  sinking  into  contempt.  Its  own  members 
had  become  indifferent  to  their  duties,  and  so  remiss  in  their 
attendance  upon  its  sessions  that  it  was  often  impossible  to  get 
a quorum  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

Imbecility  on  the  part  of  a government  always  and  inevita- 
bly leads  to  the  assumption  of  its  functions  by  unauthorized 
individuals  or  associations;  for,  in  all  civilized  societies  there 
are  duties  to  be  discharged  by  some  governing  power,  and  if 
these  duties  be  not  discharged  by  those  upon  whom  they  are 
lawfully  devolved  they  will  be  undertaken  by  others.  This  is 
exemplified  in  lynch  law  and  vigilance  committees,  and  in 
mining  camps  and  other  forms  of  provisional  government. 

The  growing  impotence  and  incapacity  of  the  Congress 
under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  encouraged  the  several 
States,  and,  indeed,  associations  of  individuals  in  different 
States  also,  to  usurp  its  unused  powers,  to  perform  its  neglected 
duties,  and  to  arrogate  to  themselves  other  powers — all  of 
which  were  exercised  for  the  advantage  of  the  usurpers,  and 
not  for  the  common  good  of  all  the  States. 

The  tendency  and  the  immediate  influence  of  these  usurpa- 
tions were  to  widen  the  breach  between  the  States  and  to 


6 


hasten  the  complete  disruption  of  the  ties  of  sentiment  and 
policy  which  had  held  them  together  during  the  struggle  for 
independence. 

Not  only  was  the  Confederation  in  process  of  rapid  disin- 
tegration, but  the  States  themselves  began  to  disintegrate. 
The  western  counties  of  North  Carolina  separated  themselves 
from  the  rest  of  that  State,  and  proceeded  to  organize  into  a 
new  State  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Frankland.  Ken- 
tucky declared  its  independence  of  Virginia,  to  whom  it  right- 
fully belonged.  Maine  tried  to  throw  off  the  authority  of 
Massachusetts.  Nor  was  this  all.  In  nearly  every  State 
Committees  of  Public  Safety  were  formed  and  threatened  to 
usurp  the  powers  of  the  State  Governments;  whilst  in  Massa- 
chusetts there  was  an  armed  rebellion  known  in  history  as 
Shays’s  Rebellion.  From  the  impending  ruin  the  Union  was 
saved  by  the  Convention  which  met  in  Philadelphia  in  1787. 
Then  was  framed  that  Constitution  the  adoption  of  which  by 
the  several  States  transformed  the  dying  Confederation  into 
what  has  proved  to  be  a living  and  indestructible  Union  of 
States.  The  first  Congress  under  this  Constitution  met  at 
New  York  on  the  Gth  of  April,  1789,  and  the  new  Govern- 
ment was  finally  put  in  operation  on  the  30th  of  April  by  the 
inauguration  of  the  first  President,  George  Washington. 

That  the  Union  thus  formed  and  established  was  “more  per- 
fect” than  that  which  had  theretofore  existed  is  plain  enough; 
but  it  was  made  still  more  complete  by  the  consummate 
wisdom,  the  lofty  patriotism,  and  the  unrivaled  statesmanship 
of  the  men  who  founded  and  organized  the  new  Government 
and  administered  it  during  the  first  decade  of  its  existence. 
Yet  it  was  a combination  of  political  organizations  rather 
than  a union  of  peoples  ; something  devised  to  secure  peace  at 
home,  to  prevent  foreign  domination,  and  chiefly  to  develop 
and  protect  commerce  and  trade;  it  had  no  root  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  who  had  again  become  New  Englanders,  New 
Yorkers,  and  Virginians,  and  had  ceased  to  be  Americans.  It 


7 


was  a Union  as  unlike  the  Union  of  to-day  as  the  England  of 
Alfred  was  unlike  the  England  of  Victoria. 

The  strength  of  any  political  compact  is  based,  not  upon  its 
conditions  and  stipulations,  but  upon  the  affection  and  respect 
of  those  who  are  governed  by  it;  it  is  founded  upon  those  com- 
plex feelings  which  Ave  call  patriotism. 

No  such  sentiment  brought  together  the  Convention  of  1787. 
No  such  feeling  induced  the  several  States  to  adopt  the  Con- 
stitution which  that  Convention  framed.  No  such  feeling 
bound  together  the  States  which  Avere  united  under  that  Con- 
stitution. 

Yet,  under  the  benign  influence  of  Washington  the  Union 
began  to  win  the  admiration,  the  confidence,  and  the  affection 
of  the  people.  Men  began  to  perceive  its  beneficent  influences, 
and  to  feel  that  it  promoted  their  individual  interests  and  the 
common  good.  It  had,  however,  none  of  that  sacred  character 
with  which  a century  has  since  clothed  it.  Its  dissolution  Avas 
contemplated  without  anxiety,  and  there  Avere  many  who  Avere 
open  and  earnest  disunion! sts. 

With  the  accession  of  Adams  to  the  Presidency  in  1797 
parties  Avliich  had  kept  silent  in  the  august  presence  of  Wash- 
ington sprang  into  conflict — the  one  under  the  leadership  of 
the  President,  the  other  under  that  of  Jefferson.  The  enact- 
ment of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Iuavs  by  the  Federalist  majority 
in  Congress  enraged  and  alarmed  the  Republicans;  Virginia 
and  Kentucky  at  once  declared  through  their  Legislatures  that 
those  acts  Avere  unconstitutional,  and  they  called  upon  the 
other  States  to  co-operate  Avith  them  in  “maintaining  unim- 
“ paired  the  authorities,  rights,  and  liberties  reserved  to  the 
“ States  respectively  and  to  the  people;”  and  Virginia  folloAved 
up  these  declarations  with  actual  preparation  of  the  means 
for  supporting  them  Avith  force. 

Happily,  by  a change  of  administration,  carrying  Avith  it 
a change  of  governmental  policy,  by  the  election  of  Jefferson 
to  the  Presidency  in  1800,  a peaceful  revolution  Avas  effected, 


- 


and  all  fancied  justification  for  a resort  to  arms  was  taken 
away.  There  was  then  a lull  for  a few  years.  But  when  the. 
United  States  purchased  the  Territory  of  Louisiana  from 
France  (30th  of  April,  1803,)  the  storm  burst  forth  as 
furiously  as  ever. 

The  Federalists,  whose  strength  lay  chiefly  in  the  North, 
opposed  with  all  their  power  the  acquisition  of  this  immense 
territory.  They  thought  that  they  saw  in  it  the  establishment 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  South,  and  consequent  ruin  to  the 
trade  and  commerce  and  other  interests  of  the  North.  George 
Cabot,  a distinguished  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  who  had 
represented  that  State  in  the  United  States  Senate,  held  it  to 
be  sufficient  reason  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  Timothy 
Pickering  also  threw  all  of  his  great  influence  in  favor  of  the 
peaceable  secession  of  the  Northern  States  from  a Union 
which  they  could  no  longer  hope  to  control.  On  the  24th 
of  December,  1803,  writing  to  a friend,  he  says  : 

“ I will  not  despair.  I will  rather  anticipate  a new  confederacy,  ex- 
“empt  from  the  corrupt  and  corrupting  influence  of  the  aristocratic 
1 ‘ democrats  of  the  South.  There  will  he  (and  our  children  at  farthest  will 
“see  it)  a separation.  The  white  and  black  population  will  mark  the 
“ boundary.” 

These  were  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  an  undoubted  pa- 
troit — a New  England  patriot  who  loved  Massachusetts  and 
all  New  England,  a man  who  had  fought  for  the  independ- 
ence of  the  States,  who  had  for  years  held  high  office  in  the 
Federal  Government,  and  had  been  the  confidential  adviser  of 
Washington,  but  who  believed  that  the  acquisition  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Louisiana  would  give  to  the  South  a preponderance 
in  the  Union  which  would  be  fatal  to  the  prosperity  of  his 
own  section. 

Another  New  England  Senator  said  : “ Admit  this  western 
“ world  into  the  Union  and  you  destroy  at  once  the  weight  and 
“ importance  of  the  Eastern  States  and  compel  them  to  estab- 
lish a separate,  independent  empire.”  . 

The  fact  that  such  sentiments  were  openly  and  constantly 


9 


expressed  and  did  not  provoke  any  indignant  dissent  shows 
that  they  were  not  only  generally  entertained,  but  that  “ love  of 
the  Union  ” was  a very  feeble  sentiment  in  the  hearts  of  men 
■ — that  our  nationality  Avas  in  a strictly  rndimental  condition, 
that  there  was  not  yet  an  American  people,  and  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  States  Avere  still  very  loosely  bound  together. 

But,  also,  at  this  period  of  our  history  the  malcontents  did 
not  stop  at  Avords.  They  not  only  expressed  their  wishes  for 
a dissolution  of  the  Union,  but  devised  formal  plans  to  ac- 
complish that  object.  As  a first  step,  they  undertook  to  dis- 
rupt the  Republican  party  in  New  York.  Aaron  Burr  was 
made  the  candidate  of  the  Federalists,  and  of  his  wing  of  the 
Republican  party,  for  Governor  of  New  York.  But  this  scheme 
Avas  thwarted  by  Alexander  Hamilton;  Burr  Avas  defeated,  and, 
as  ahvays  happens,  the  coalitionists  Avere  temporarily  ruined 
by  the  failure  of  their  intrigue.  Yet  the  antagonism  bettveen 
the  sections  lost  nothing  of  its  strength  and  bitterness,  and 
the  strife  Avas  soon  to  be  reneAved  more  fiercely  than  ever.  It 
reached  its  climax  during  the  closing  year  of  Jefferson’s  ad- 
ministration, Avlien  the  maritime  States  of  the  North,  driven 
to  desperation  by  the  ruinous  operation  of  the  embargo,  seemed 
about  ready  to  resist  the  further  execution  of  that  disastrous 
measure  by  force  of  arms.  Jefferson  gave  way.  The  embargo 
Avas  raised  and  the  danger  averted. 

In  1811. ensued  a fierce  struggle  betAveen  the  sections  for  the 
possession  of  the  Federal  Government.  The  point  then  in 
controversy  was  the  admission  of  Louisiana  into  the  Union  as 
a State.  In  the  course  of  the  debates  which  took  place  in 
Congress  threats  of  a dissolution  of  the  Union  by  the  seces- 
sion of  the  Northern  States  were  constantly  made.  We  find 
them  calmly  and  boldly  uttered  in  the  following  extract  from 
a speech  of  Josiali  Quincy,  a man  of  eminent  ability  and 
patriotism  : 

“If  this  bill  passes  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  it  is  virtually  a 
“dissolution  of  this  Union  ; that  it  will  free  the  States  from  their  moral 


10 


“ obligations,  and,  as  it  will  be  the  right  of  all,  so  it  will  be  the  duty  of 
“some,  definitely  to  prepare  for  a separation,  amicably  if  they  can, 
“violently  if  they  must.” 

Mr.  Quincy  was  called  to  order.  The  Speaker,  Mr.  Varnum, 
of  Massachusetts,  decided  that  the  suggestion  of  a dissolution 
of  the  Union  was  out  of  order.  From  this  decision  an  appeal 
was  taken  to  the  House,  and  the  decision  was  reversed,  show- 
ing that  in  the  opinion  of  a majority  of  the  members  of  the 
House  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  a debatable  question. 

While  these  were  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the  States 
upon  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  similar  feelings  and  sentiments 
were  to  be  found  among  the  new  States  of  the  West.  The 
mysterious  expedition  of  Aaron  Burr  lacked  neither  sympathy 
nor  followers  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the  newspapers  of 
Ohio  argued  strongly  in  favor  of  the  separation  of  the  Western 
States  from  the  Union. 

At  the  same  time  the  contempt  in  which  the  Government  at 
Washington  was  held  by  foreign  powers  is  illustrated  by  the 
mischievous  schemes  of  Citizen  Genet  for  the  organization  in 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia  of  an  expedition  against  the 
Spanish  colony  of  Florida,  and  the  projection  of  a like  move- 
ment from  Kentucky  against  New  Orleans. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  Union  as  it  existed  in  1813  was 
a mere  confederation  of  sovereign  States,  loosely  bound  together 
by  purely  selfish  interests,  by  the  fancied  necessities  of  trade, 
by  their  fears  of  foreign  domination,  and  by  little  , else.  He 
was  still  a patriot  who  loved  his  own  State  or  section  and  none 
other;  who  was  readiest  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  own 
section  at  the  expense  of  the  others,  who  loved  Massachusetts 
and  Virginia,  and  distrusted  and  intrigued  against  the  Union, 
or  denounced  it  openly  and  sought  its  dissolution. 

How  different  such  a Union  from  that  of  to  day — a Union 
so  complete,  so  firmly  bound  together,  that  the  greatest  rebel- 
lion that  history  records  could  not  dissolve  it,  could  not  disrupt 
it,  could  not  even  weaken  it  ! What  has  wrought  this  great 


ii 


change  in  the  Government  of  our  fathers  ? How  did  the  War 
of  1812  help  to  do  it  ? 

War  was  declared  on  the  18th  of  June,  1812 — a date  which 
marks  the  transfer  of  the  Federal  Government  from  the  gener- 
ation which  achieved  our  independence  and  established  the 
Union  to  a generation  which  had  grown  to  manhood,  not  un- 
der the  crown  of  England,  but  under  the  flag  of  the  re- 
public. The  repeated  insults  heaped  by  Great  Britain  upon 
that  flag  during  the  preceding  four  or  five  years,  the  brutal 
attack  of  the  Leopard  upon  the  Chesapeake,  the  insolent  claim 
of  Great  Britain  to  board  our  war  vessels  and  search  them  for 
deserters,  the  undisguised  contempt  of  both  that  country  and 
France  for  the  pusillanimous  young  republic  which  had  been 
weakly  paving  tribute  to  the  piratical  Barbary  States,  at  last 
fired  the  hearts  and  aroused  the  patriotism  of  this  new  genera- 
tion. This  outburst  of  indignant  patriotic  feeling  found 
fit  leaders  in  two  young  men — Henry  Clay  and  John  Caldwell 
Calhoun — the  one  endowed  with  matchless  eloquence  and  a 
mastering  will,  the  other  with  resistless  logic  and  the  loftiest 
character,  both  Americans,  every  inch  Americans,  and  filled 
with  the  most  ardent  love  of  their  country  and  with  a fervent 
devotion  to  the  Union  of  the  States. 

With  their  advent  upon  the  scene  of  action  as  the  leaders  of 
the  war  party  begins  the  real  history  of  the  American  people 
and  the  firm  and  lasting  establishment  of  the  American  Union. 
Backed  by  George  Clinton,  of  Hew  York,  and  James  Monroe, 
of  Virginia,  these,  young  Americans  forced  Mr.  Madison,  the 
President,  to  advise  Congress  to  declare  war,  and,  in  spite 
of  the  fierce  and  determined  opposition  of  the  Federalists  and 
the  Peace  Republicans,  they  carried  that  measure  triumphantly 
through  ■■Congress,  and  by  that  act  welded  the  Union  indis- 
solubly together. 

It  was  the  War  of  1812  which  thus  gave  the  control  of 
the  Federal  Government  into  the  hands  of  Americans,  as 
distinguished  from  Virginians,  and  Hew  Englanders,  and  Hew 


12 


Yorkers,  and  which  drove  from  public  life  every  man  whose 
fidelity  to  the  Union  was  not  unquestioned  and  unquestionable. 
The  stigma  left  by  the  mysterious  Hartford  Convention  was 
sufficient  for  the  political  ruin  of  its  members,  and  the  words 
“ Blue-light  Federalist”  became  a term  of  political  opprobrium. 

The  events  of  the  war  quickly  brought  into  conspicuous 
action  a host  of  other  young  men  whose  eloquence  and  wisdom 
in  the  council  chamber,  and  brilliant  achievements  on  the  high 
seas  and  on  the  battlefield,  inflamed  the  hearts  of  the  people 
everywhere  and  roused  the  whole  country  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  patriotic  enthusiasm.  Clay,  and  Calhoun,  and  Clinton,  and 
Monroe  were  no  longer  distinct  from  the  throng  of  statesmen  and 
soldiers  and  captains  who  stood  by  their  side  in  the  defense  of  the 
honor  of  the  Union.  The  country  then  passed  into  the  keep- 
ing, and  remained  for  a generation  under  the  guardianship,  of 
Clay,  Clinton,  Calhoun,  Monroe,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Daniel 
1).  Tompkins,  William  Henry  Harrison,  Lawrence,  Decatur, 
Perry,  Lewis  Cass,  Winfield  Scott,  Andrew  Jackson,  and  their 
adherents. 

The  War  of  1812  would  have  contributed  more  largely  to 
create  a nation  than  any  one  event  in  our  earlier  history  had 
it  done  nothing  more  than  bring  these  true  patriots  before  the 
public  eye,  and  lift  them  into  the  high  places  of  Government — 
men  who  had  awakened  by  their  ardor,  and  had  made  imperish. 
able  by  their  achievements,  a love  of  country  coextensive  with 
its  domain,  and  thus  had  shaped  the  fortunes  of  this  continent. 

It  did,  however,  something  more.  It  made  the  States  a 
nation  in  interests,  in  associations,  in  sentiment — a nation 
free  .from  the  entanglements  of  European  politics,  with  a Navy 
strong  enough  to  maintain  its  neutrality,  to  protects  its  foreign 
commerce,  and  to  defend  its  rights  upon  the  seas  ; and  with  an 
Army  which,  though  it  had  passed  through  shameful  disasters, 
had  distinguished  itself  finally  in  Scott’s  brilliant  achievements 
and  in  the  crowning  victory  of  the  war  at  New  Orleans.  The 
war  taught  the  people  to  love  the  Union,  for  were  not  Tippe- 


13 


canoe,  and  Lundy’s  Lane,  and  New  Orleans,  and  the  victories 
of  our  young  Navy  the  common  heritage  of  all  ? Neither 
Scott,  nor  Clay,  nor  Adams,  nor  Calhoun,  nor  Tompkins,  nor 
Clinton  sought  to  confer  invidious  honors  upon  the  com- 
munities, the  States,  from  which  they  came,  but  dutifully 
wreathed  their  blended  offerings  in  an  aureole  for  the  majestic 
front  of  young  Columbia. 

In  the  blaze  of  patriotism  which  was  enkindled  in  the  hearts 
of  all  disunionism  and  secessionism  and  sectionalism  were 
utterly  consumed,  and  for, years  both  North  and  South  forgot 
their  rivalries  and  antagonisms,  their  selfish  interests,  and  their 
ignorant  prejudices.  The  cardinal  principles  of  the  Federal  . 
party — the  preservation  and  perpetuity  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment— had  been  quietly  accepted  and  adopted  by  the  Republi- 
cans,  while  the  Republican  principle  of  limiting  the  powers 
and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government  had  been  adopted  by  the 
Federalists  when  the  Federal  Government  had  fallen  into 
Republican  hands.  The  whole  people  composed  one  party 
whose  principles  were  neither  those  of  the  original  Federal 
nor  those  of  the  original  Republican  party,  but  a combination 
of  both,  and  the  country  rejoiced  in  that  “era  of  good  feel- 
ing” which  makes  the  administration  of  James  Monroe  mem- 
orable in  our  annals. 

Thus,  while  we  regard  the  change  wrought  by  the  war  in  the 
sentiments  and  affections  of  the  people — the  birth  of  patriotic 
devotion  to  the  Union — as  an  important  result  of  the  war,  there 
were  other  results  hardly  less  important. 

To  the  States  then,  as  now,  was  largely  committed  the  pro- 
tection of  the  life  and  liberty  and  property  of  the  citizen.  It 
had  been  hoped  by  the  Republicans  and  feared  by  the  Federal- 
ists that  the  several  States  would  continue  to  be  the  fountains 
of  honor  and  profit,  and  that  the  General  Government,  having 
comparatively  little  patronage,  and  dealing  only  with  the  less 
important  interests  of  the  people,  would  never  attract  to  its 
service  its  abler  and  more  ambitious  citizens,  or  win  the  affec- 
tion of  the  people  from  their  local  organizations, 


14 


But  the  war  multiplied  an  hundred -fold  the  powers  and 
opportunities  of  the  National  Government  and.  made  it  the 
very  source  of  honor,  emolument,  and  distinction.  Its 
strength,  aside  from, its  indirect  influences,  never  seemed  great 
or  potential  until  it  was  developed  by  the  war.  To  it  hoav  the 
patriotic  and  the  nobly  ambitious,  as  well  as  those  greedy  for 
power  and  pelf,  looked  for  the  gratification  of  their  desires. 
Every  officer  in  the  Army,  every  officer  in  the  Navy,  every 
soldier  and  sailor,  fought  its  battles  and  drew  its  pay;  every 
contractor  courted  its  favor  and  grew  rich  upon  its  bounty, 
and  every  man  who  administered  the  Government,  from  the 
President  down  to  the  humblest  clerk,  every  Senator,  every 
Representative,  every  Minister  to  a foreign  court — afl  _ these 
thought,  and  worked,  and  fought  for  the  Union,  and  so 
learned  to  love  it  and  to  make  it  worthy  of  the  love  of  their 
countrymen,  respected  abroad  and  revered  at  home. 

Every  department  of  the  Federal  Government  was  strength- 
ened by  the  war;  not  only  the  executive  and  legislative  depart- 
ments, but  the  judicial  as  well.  The  vast  increase  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Federal  courts,  growing  out  of  the  decision  of  the 
admiralty  cases  brought  into  them  by  the  fortunes  of  war,  and 
which  during  the  next  decade  occupied  so  great  a space  in  their 
reports,  drew  the  attention  of  the  country  to  the  learning,  the 
ability,  and  the  integrity  of  the  eminent  judges  who  presided 
over  them  and  made  them  thenceforth  the  chosen  forum  for 
most  of  the  important  cases  over  which  they  had  concurrent 
jurisdiction  with  the  State  courts.  And  from  that  time  to 
this  they  have  been  steadily  and  rapidly  widening  their  juris- 
diction and  increasing  their  power,  until  now,  their  importance 
which  before  the  War  of  1812  was  insignificant,  equals,  and 
perhaps  exceeds,  that  of  the  State  tribunals.  And  this  very 
fact  strengthens  the  Federal  judiciary  still  more  by  attracting 
to  its  bench  the  ablest,  the  most  learned,  and  the  purest  men 
in  the  land,  thereby  endowing  it  with  a moral  force  equal  to 
its  actual  power  over  the  persons  and  property  of  fifty  millions 


15 


of  people — a power  which  is  molding  the  laws  and  shaping 
the  institutions  and  transforming  the  Government,  not  only 
of  our  generation,  hut  for  generations  to  come. 

The  legislative  department  felt  the  invigorating  influence  of 
the  war  as  sensibly,  and  perhaps  more  sensibly,  than  the  judi- 
cial. The  duties  of  Congress  became  all-important,  and  every 
man  of  abilitv-who  longed  to  serve  his  country,  or  to  win  for 
himself  a name,  saw  Unit  it  was  in  the  councils  of  the  Union 
that  lie -must  seek  for  the  attainment  of  his  purpose,  and  not 
in  the  provincial  Legislature  of  New  York  or  Virginia,  of 
Massachusetts  or  of  Georgia.  Hence  Washington  became  the 
centre  of  the  Union,  and  thither  turned  the  eyes  and  hearts  of 
American  politicians  and  statesmen.  Every  subject  of  legis- 
lation which  had  before  attracted  its  attention  occupied  it  in  a 
still  greater  degree  now,  and  new  measures  of  transcendent  im- 
portance began  to  give  to  its  deliberations  an  interest  which  they 
had  never  before  possessed,  and  which  made  it  the  cynosure  of 
every  eye.  How  trivial  seemed  the  commonplace  deliberations 
of  the  State  Legislatures,  with  their  petty  interests,  compared 
with  the  deliberations  of  a Congress  which  had  in  its  hands 
the  issues  of-peace  and  war,  which  was  raising  and  equipping 
armies  and  navies,  and  controlling  the  destinies  of  a continent; 
which  was  levying  taxes,  to  carry. on  a great  military  contest ; 
which  was  disbursing  tens  of  millions  of  dollars  ; which  next 
had  to  consider  the  terms  of  peace  ; and  which,  after  the  con- 
clusion of  hostilities,  had  before  it  those  vital  questions  of 
finance  which  a costly  war  had  left  for  solution — treaties  with 
powerful  Indian  tribes  ; the  settlement  of  the  foundations  of 
society  in  the  boundless  West,  legislation  made  necessary  by 
the  victories  of  Harrison,  and  Jackson,  and  Shelby;  the  begin- 
ning of  those  great  works  of  internal  improvement  to  which 
the  West  owes  its  unparalleled  growth  in  population  and  in 
wealth — and  other  subjects  of  equal  weight  ! All  this. gave  to 
the  legislative  department  of  the  Government  a power  and  an 
influence^  utterly  unknown  before  the  war,  an  importance 


16 


which  was  greatly  increased  by  the  character  of  the  men 
whom  these  vital  matters  brought  into  its  councils.  The 
dignity,  the  power,  the  supremacy,  thus  conferred  upon  Con- 
gress have  never  been  lost,  but  have  grown  with  the  growth  of 
the  country  and  with  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  confided 
to  Congressional  discretion. 

But  it  was  the  executive  department  which  received  the 
greatest  accession  of  power  through  the  war.  Then  for  the 
first  time  the  President  seemed  to  be  clothed  with  a new 
quality  which  almost  equaled  the  dictatorial  powers  of  the 
Roman  Consuls  when  the  Senate  decreed  that  they  should  see 
that  no  detriment  came  to  the  republic. 

The  patronage  of  the  President  was  enormously  increased 
not  only  by  the  multiplication  of  the  Army  and  Navy  lists, 
and  by  the  immense  increase  of  the  civil  list,  but  also  by  the 
firm  grasp  he  was  enabled  to  take  of  the  purse  and  the  sword — 
not  the  light  purse  which  the  liberty-loving  Jefferson  had  so 
sedulously  kept  empty,  nor  the  harmless  sword  which  that 
hater  of  tyrants  was  beating  into  a pruning-hoolc,  but  a purse 
filled  with  the  proceeds  of  heavy  taxes  and  a high  tariff,  and 
the  two-edged  sword  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 

The  Treasury  became  a resistless  power  through  the  multi- 
tude of  persons  who  were  employed  in  the  collection  and 
disbursement  of  the  revenues  which  the  war  made  necessary, 
and  in  the  management  of  the  finances  of  a nation  which  was 
organizing,  and  supplying,  and  equipping  an  Army,  building 
and  supporting  a Navy,  and  waging  war  on  land  and  on  sea 
against  Great  Britain,  Canada,  and  the  savage  Indians  of  the 
Son th  and  West. 

The  Army,  which  was  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  insignificant 
in  numbers,  poorly  armed,  and  badly  officered,  was  largely  in- 
creased, and,  before  the  war  ended,  had  become  well-disciplined 
soldiers,  and,  under  the  leadership  of  Scott  and  of  Jackson, 
was  able  to  cope  successfully  with  the  veterans  of  Great 
Britain.  It  added  incalculably  to  the  pomer  of  the  President, 


17 


who  was  its  Commander-in-Chief,  who  commissioned  its 


its. movements,  and  wielded  its  strength. 


The  Navy,  .contributed  still  more  to  the  power  of  the  Presi- 
dent andJxLtke. prestige. of  the  Union.  Tt.  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  existed,  before,  the  War  of  1812.  It  is  true  that  a 
Navy  Department  had  been  organized  in  1792,  and  our  seamen 
had  won  glory  in  the  war  with  Tripoli,  but  the  President,  Mr. 
Jefferson,  wisely  regarding  it  as  one  of  the  strongest  elements 
of  national  power,  and  a constant  danger  to  the  States,  began 
to  break  it  up  as  soon  as  the  Tripolitan  War  was  concluded, 
and  had  almost  crushed  it  out  of  existence  before  his  term  of 
office  expired.  The  War  of  1812  called  it  into  being  again, 
created  it  anew,  and  whitened  the  ocean  with  its  sails. 
Decatur,  Lawrence,  Perry  and  their  dashing  comrades  by  the 
splendor  of  their  achievements  effaced  the  shame  which  was 
brought  upon  the  Union  by  its  armies  during  the  first  year  of 
the  war.  The  Navy  became,  the  pride  and  the  glory  of  the 
people,  and  it  was  pre-eminently  the  Navy  of  the  Union. 
The  Army,  whose  defeats  and  disgraces  were  so  keenly  felt, 
was  composed  largely  of  the  Militia  of  the  several  States,  but 
the  Navy  belonged  to  no  State — it  was  the  creature  of  the 
Union.  Whatever  shame  there  was  might  be  chargeable  to 
the  States,  while  the  glory  belonged  to  the  Union. 

The  Navy  is  pre-eminently  loyal  to  the  Union,  its  officers 
are  unfalteringly  true  to  their  flag.  Army  officers  seldom  lose 
interest  in  the  fortunes  of  their  States  because  they  are  never 
wholly  separated  from  them,  but  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
Navy,  living  under  the  flag,  bearing  it  over  every  sea,  and  into 
every  foreign  port,  isolated  from  the  communities  in  which 
they  were  born  and  reared,  forget  their  States  in  their  devotion 
to  the  flag  of  the  Union,  and  cease  to  be  anything  but  Ameri- 
cans. They,  therefore,  are  peculiarly  obedient  to  the  will  and 
the  wishes  of  the  President,  who  is  at  once  their  Commander- 
in-Chief  and  the  impersonation  of  their  country.  It  is  this 


18 


which  makes  the  Navy  more  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the 
republic  than  is  the  Army,  and  at  the  same  time  a surer 
defense  to  the  extent  of  its  ability. 

In  a more  natural  way  the  war  did  much  to  consolidate  the 
Union  and  to  bind  it  fast  together.  The  experience  of  the 
time  had  shown  the  absolute  necessity  for  making  military 
roads  through  every  part  of  the  country,  and  to  this  fact  is 
due  the  inauguration  of  the  system  of  internal  improvements 
—the  making  of  roads,  plain  dirt  roads  at  first,  then  mac- 
adamized pikes,  then  the  complex  net-work  of  railroads,  which 
last  saved  the  Union  in  the  war  of  secession,  and  now  binds 
every  part  of  the  country  to  the  other  by  the  lasting  ties  of 
interest,  neighborhood,  and  constant  intercourse. 

To  the  War  of  1812  we  also  owe  the  conversion  of  New  . 
England  into  a manufacturing.  Union-loving  community. 
Prior  to  the  war  many  of  its  people,  who  were  then  chiefly 
engaged  in  shipping  and  commerce,  felt  that  the  Federal 
Government,  which  was  controlled  b}r  the  agricultural  States 
of  the  South,  was  a curse  rather  than  a blessing  to  them,  and 
many  of  the  purest  and  most  patriotic  statesmen  of  that  sec- 
tion felt  that  its  highest  interest  would  be  subserved  by  its 
withdrawal  from  the  Union.  The  war  increased  the  demand 
for  home  products  and  cut  off  foreign  imports  and  competi- 
tion, and  though  the  stimulus  to  manufacturing  industry 
was  fitful  and  uncertain,  the  enterprises  then  established  exist 
to  this  day.  The  capital  and  energies  which  had  been  em- 
ployed in  shipping  and  commerce  were  set  free  and  diverted 
to  manufactures.  Protected  by  the  absolutely  prohibitory 
tariff  that  the  war  established,  from  that  hour  to  this  New 
Englanders  have  felt  the  blessings  of  the  Union,  and  have 
been  among  its  most  eminent  and  bravest  defenders. 

But,  after  all,  the  most  important  result  of  the  war  was  the 
acquisition  of  the  exclusive  right  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Union 
exists  to-day  because  the  people  of  the  West  would  not  con- 


19 


sent  that  the  control  of  the  traffic  of  the  greatest  river  of  the 
continent  and  the  world  should  be  divided  with  any  other 
power,  whether  European  or  American.  It  is  the  strongest  of  all 
the  material  bonds  which  hold  the  States  together  in  an  in- 
dissoluble Union.  No  one  who  understands  clearly  the  forces 
which  prevented  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  in  1861  will 
hesitate  to  say  that  of  all  those  forces  the  Mississippi  River 
was  the  most  powerful.  At  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  the 
war  in  1812  Great  Britain  was  entitled  to  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  River  under  the  treaties  of  1763, 1783,  1794. 
The, War  of  '12  consumed  the  treaties,  and  the  American  Com- 
missioners who  negotiated  the  treaty  of  Client  were  urged  by 
the  representatives  of  the  Crown,  month  after  month,  to  con- 
cede the  continuance  of  the  privilege  to  Great  Britain  in  re- 
turn for  fishing  privileges  to  be  granted  to  the  United  States. 
To  this  entreaty  Henry  Clay  would  never  listen.  Sustained 
by  the  President,  the  concession  was  firmly  refused,  and  the 
Union  became  entitled  to  the  exclusive  navigation  of  the 
great  river.  According  to  Prof.  Guyot  the  area  drained  by  it 
and  its  tributaries  is  1,244,000  square  miles.  Never  before  in 
the  world's  history  had  commerce  upon  so  grand  a scale,  and 
through  regions  so  vast,  differing  widely  in  soil,  climate  and 
condition,  been  freed  from  restriction.  Before  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana  the  partial  control  of  this  great  highway  by 
France  and  Spain  successively  had  occasioned  serious  and 
alarming  discontent  among  the  people  of  the  West,  and  was 
the  stimulating  influence  that  gave  life  and  vigor  to  the 
schemes  of  Aaron  Burr  and  the  machinations  of  Genet.  When 
Great  Britain,  in  1814,  sent  the  brother-in-law  of  Wellington, 
Sir  Edward  Packenham,  and  his  Peninsular  veterans  to  capture 
New  Orleans,  the  inspiring  motive  was  to  seize  and  hold  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  thereby  deal  a deadly  blow  at  the 
growth  and  power  of  the  country.  The  victory  of  the  8th  of 
January,  1815,  thwarted  this  far-reaching  scheme,  and  con- 
firmed to  the  Union  the  most  productive  region  of  the  globe. 


20 


The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  also  early  under- 
stood the  value  and  importance  of  the  great  river  and  the 
difficult  problem  its  commerce  presented,  and  among  the  earlr 
est  and  wisest  enactments  of  that  body  was  a law  by  which 
the  free  navigation  of  the  stream  was  dedicated  to  all  Ameri- 
cans. 

This  policy  was  intended  to  remove  -one  cause  of  assured 
hostility,  and  placate  the  inhabitants  of  the  North  Western 
States.  These  fertile  regions  had  been  settled  by  men  from 
the  older  States  of  the  Union.  They  left  their  former  State 
love  behind  them  in  the  homes  of  their  youth.  The  time  had 
been  too  short  to  awaken  a fresh  pride  in  the  young  common- 
wealths of  their  new  residence,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  mon- 
arch stream  they  became  the  hardy  sons  of  the  Union  and  its 
most  stalwart  defenders.  Pouring  along  its  course  from 
Itasca  to  the  Gulf  a tide  of  valor  as  resistless  as  its  own  waters, 
they  cleaved  in  twain  the  dominion  of  the  Confederate  States, 
and  gave  to  the  Union  the  first  and  most  important  victories 
in  the  war  for  its  preservation. 

All  those  centralizing  and  nationalizing  forces  are  still  at 
work,  giving  to  the  General  Government  ajn  expansion  of 
power  which  the  extending  area  of  the  country  and  its  grow- 
ing population  and  wealth  and  diversified  interests  make 
necessary  for  the  common  good.  Great  as  these  forces  are, 
they  would  not  have  sufficed  to  hold  the  Union  together  if  it 
had  not  become  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  the  neoole 
by  the  blessings  it  has  conferred  upon  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  men.  The  War  of  1812  made  it  a real  entity 
and  not  a mere  political  expression.  What  was  there  in  its 
history  prior  to  that  time  to  excite  the  imaginations,  to  arouse 
the  pride,  to  stir  the  hearts,  and  to  win  the  affections  of  its 
people  ? No  genuinely  patriotic  feeling  could  thrive  in  the 
midst  of  the  controversies  which  agitated  the  country  during 
the  administrations  of  Adams  and  Jefferson  ; it  could  not  find 
kindly  soil  or  a friendly  atmosphere  amid  the  stormy  passions 


21 


of  that  period  which  brought  forth  the  Alien  and  Sedition 
laws,  the  resolutions  of  ’98  and  ’99,  the  quarrels  of  Hamilton 
and  Burr,  and  Burr’s  conspiracy  and  trial,  or  in  the  antagon- 
isms which  then  began  to  array  section  against  section. 

But  the  war  changed  all  this.  The  flag  of  the  Union  was 
no  longer  an  unmeaning  thing.  It  became  lustrous  with  the 
victories  of  Scott,  and  Jackson,  and  Harrison,  of  Decatur  and 
Perry.  It  became  a symbol  of  a country  able  and  willing  to 
protect  its  citizens  ; a country  honored  abroad  and  worthy  to 
be  loved  at  home. 

In  its  stipulations  and  agreements,  as  has  been  said,  the 
Union  as  it  existed  before  the  war  of  1812  remains  substan- 
tially unchanged  ; but  as  the  Rhine  upon  which  Caesar  looked 
is  unlike  the  Rhine  of  the  nineteenth  century,  clad  with  those 
varied  charms  with  which  history  and  romance  and  legend 
and  story  have  invested  its  people  and  its  scenery,  so  is  trans- 
figured the  great  republic  of  the  West,  its  glories  “thick 
inlaid,”  its  resplendent  history  filled  with  deeds  of  greatness, 
its  banner  fretted  with  innumerable  stars,  and  its  indestructi- 
bility assured  forever  against  “ domestic  malice  or  foreign 
levy.” 


Sofum6ia  College,  JVew  tJoH*. 
SENIOR  0EA8S  ESSAY,  1882, 


